Helping your business grow, whether through optimising processes, upskilling your people or reducing costs through membership benefits – The Chamber connects you to funding, skills, new people, expert help and provides a platform where you and your business can flourish.

Whether you want to network, exhibit, learn more about what’s going on in your sector through industry forums – the Chamber helps you access hundreds of opportunities to meet and connect with businesses in the East Midlands every year.

To stay competitive means you need good people, with the right skills who feel valued and appreciated – the Chamber can provide you with expert analysis of your current situation, connect you with fully- or partially-subsidised training or even introduce you to new talent.

Reaching and influencing the right person, whether it’s your industry sector peers, your local MP, a specific Government department or simply people that need what you do – the Chamber is an authoritative body which has the status and mandate to ensure your voice is heard by the right people.

Whether you’re already exporting or planning your first overseas ventures, we can help you reach new markets to increase your potential profits and revenue. Through our extensive programme of trade missions, training courses, seminars and business clinics, we help you target the regions most likely to achieve results.

Contact us now to find out about the information, advice and support we offer to individuals and businesses.

The Chamber is the leading business organisation in the East Midlands. With a growing membership of more than 4,100+ businesses and 3,000 affiliates, it is the second largest Chamber of Commerce in the country.

Futurologist Jason Bradbury will be our headline speaker at our Annual Dinner 2019, he will cover topics including the evolution of technology and it's implications for the modern world. 👩🏾‍💻 Book tickets here. 👉 bit.ly/2Egf7lppic.twitter.com/bvF7fttbyK

Business Network Magazine

The Chamber’s highly respected flagship publication is produced ten times a year and read by thousands of business people throughout the region – with news from members featuring prominently.

Thursday, 19 April 2018

One-in-ten firms considers relocation over traffic delays

Travel delays and congestion are having a negative impact on business, according to new research.

More than one-in-ten firms have considered moving to beat congestion and over half said they’ve lost money because of delays.

The Chamber asked firms across the region how much they were being held back by poor infrastructure investment.

According to Government figures, infrastructure investment in the East Midlands is only 60% of the average per capita of the rest of the UK. The Chamber is lobbying for national parity by 2020.

The shock results of the survey were that 68% of respondents said they’d suffered delays due to roads congestion.

Nearly a third of businesses (30%) said the delays had caused them to incur increased costs in buying products or services and 18% said they’d lost at least one business opportunity due to the delays. As a direct consequence of the delays and congestion, 11% of respondents said they’d considered relocating.

The problems extend beyond road and rail, however, to include the region’s digital infrastructure.

Mobile and online technologies are nowadays considered crucial to conducting business and driving growth but one-in-ten of the survey’s respondents said they’d suffered mobile phone outages and 36% said they’d suffered broadband issues.

Scott Knowles, Chief Executive at the Chamber, said: “This original research confirms what we’ve said all along; that our businesses are very good at making things and selling what they make around the world, but they do it despite Government investment in this region, not because of it.

“We’ve been seeking to respond to Government challenges and increase our activity in this region, but it hasn’t been matched by investment in infrastructure and now we’re seeing the results of constant under-investment – for example, over seven-in-ten of our members believe the roads network is less reliable today than it was five years ago.

“The East Midlands needs a fair share of national infrastructure investment. The region needs roads that recognise its importance as the link between north and south and between east and west. It needs a rail network fit for the 21st Century and beyond. It needs improved transport links with East Midlands Airport and better use made of the capacity at the airport for longer haul flights to complement its status as the country’s biggest pure freight airport.

“Companies in the East Midlands are among some of the most pioneering in the world, particularly in advanced technologies, but they are being held back by the lack of investment, which is something Government needs to address today if we are to continue to be successful in tomorrow’s post-Brexit world.

“The risk of getting this wrong is stark and, in a worst case scenario, businesses may feel forced to vote with their feet. We call on all our elected representatives, regionally and in Westminster, to do all they can to ensure this doesn’t happen.”

Strategic Partners

The Chamber is proud to work in partnership with carefully-selected and universally-recognised regional brands – many of which have a national and international presence - and the largest employers across the counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.

Patrons

If you want to expand your reach in the East Midlands, then becoming a Chamber Patron is a shrewd move. It enables you to mix with the regions leading businesses at exclusive events, gain insight into what's going to happen and helps raise you profile on multiple levels.

Strategic Partners

The Chamber is proud to work in partnership with carefully-selected and universally-recognised regional brands – many of which have a national and international presence - and the largest employers across the counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.

Patrons

If you want to expand your reach in the East Midlands, then becoming a Chamber Patron is a shrewd move. It enables you to mix with the regions leading businesses at exclusive events, gain insight into what's going to happen and helps raise you profile on multiple levels.